Archive for Bronze Age

Les cavaliers dans l’art rupestre. Le cas du Maroc

Foum Chenna, Maroc

Dans tous les pays du Maghreb et du Sahara, en plein air ou sous abri, on peut rencontrer une petite figure, gravée ou peinte, connue dans la littérature spécialisée ou de divulgation sous l’appellation de cavalier “libyco-berbère”. Puisque cette image est très répandue, il semble qu’elle n’ait pas de secret et que du cavalier tout soit connu : son armement, le harnais de sa monture, jusqu’à son rôle dans la société de l’époque. Rien de plus faux. Au Maroc, nous pouvons observer combien le monde des cavaliers était diversifié en visitant les deux gisements principaux : le site de Foum Chenna dans la vallée du Draa (Maroc méridional) et le plateau aux pieds du Jebel Rat, dans le Haut Atlas central, le premier abritant 2550 gravures, le deuxième 1800 dont 800 appartiennent à la phase des cavaliers (pdf disponible).
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Val Meraviglie e Fontanalba (Barocelli 1921)


Barocelli 1921

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Barocelli P. 1921. Val Meraviglie e Fontanalba (Note di escursioni paletnologiche), Atti della Società Piemontese d’Archeologia e Belle Arti, vol. X, fasc. 1, 51 pp., X tavv.
| full text-image and PDF (TRACCE 2015 re-editing) | Italian

[editor’s note: this 1921 paper expresses the first complete archaeological and chronological framework of the Mt. Bego petroglyphic complex; the author, Piero Barocelli was the archaeologist charged with the area, which was at this time managed by the Italian Royal Archaeological Superintendence; Clarence Bicknell, during the last years of his life, passed to him the baton of the research]

by Piero Barocelli – 1921

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Val Meraviglie e Fontanalba – Tavole (Barocelli 1921)

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Barocelli 1921, plates

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Tavole I-X da:
Barocelli P. 1921. Val Meraviglie e Fontanalba (Note di escursioni paletnologiche), Atti della Società Piemontese d’ Archeologia e Belle Arti, vol. X, fasc. 1, 51 pp., X tavv.

| full text-image and PDF (TRACCE 2015 re-editing, public domain) | Italian

[editor’s note: the 1921 paper by Piero Barocelli is enriched by 10 plates – tracings, drawings and pictures – accompanined by very detailed captions]

by Piero Barocelli – 1921

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Phaistos, Crete, cup-marks and other signs

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Phaistos, spiral

Rock art enthusiasts and researchers will be pleasantly surprised while discovering the moderate but diffused presence of Minoan Palaces “rock art”; two main categories are present: mason’s marks and cup-marks – so-called kernoi – all these engraved upon the ashlars limestone blocks of the Minoan Palaces, mainly in the first centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. Some interpretation problems arise, concerning the sacred or practical character of the marks and the use of the kernoi as offering tables or as popular or childish board games. A great concentration of such items may be found at the Phaistos Palace...

by Andrea Arcà



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Phaistos Palace, mason’s marks photogallery

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Phaistos, Crete

More than 220 mason’s marks are reported at Phaistos by Luigi Pernier in 1935, mostly connected to the First Palace. Some characteristics, as their positioning upon hidden faces of the blocks or traces of plastering testify that they were hidden from view after the completing of the palace; for these reasons we may argue that they were more likely connected to the building phases than to the symbolic decoration of the palace. [photogallery]

by AA

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Phaistos Palace, kernoi photogallery

Phaistos, Crete

Phaistos, Crete

At Phaistos Palace stone kernoi are interestingly concentrated over the limestone steps of the theatral terraces and along the paved flooring beneath. These kernoi appear worn, more likely for anthropic use than for natural weathering, so testifying foot traffic and/or the sitting of spectators. Depressions are too shallow to contain anything, apart from holding little pebbles or seeds. Such a connection with open-air shows or ceremonies would favour … [photogallery]

by AA

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